


Of Hipster Cafes and Gay/Lesbian Solidarity

by StopTalking777



Series: Replenish the Mailee Tag of AO3 2020 [2]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, F/F, Flirting, M/M, but not well, idk what else to tag lol, replenish the Mailee tag on AO3 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:46:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25852327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StopTalking777/pseuds/StopTalking777
Summary: Mai and Zuko being stupid and gay for about 2K, enjoy.Mostly Mailee but there’s a little Zukka in there, as a treat.
Relationships: Mai & Zuko (Avatar), Mai/Ty Lee (Avatar), Sokka & Ty Lee (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), but mostly mailee
Series: Replenish the Mailee Tag of AO3 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1875208
Comments: 20
Kudos: 151





	Of Hipster Cafes and Gay/Lesbian Solidarity

“Mai, remember that talk we had about gay/lesbian solidarity?” Was the first thing Zuko said entering their apartment and promptly draping himself across the couch where Mai was trying to read. 

“Yes.” She said, putting down her book and resigning herself to the fact that she wouldn’t be getting any reading done as long as her dramatic roommate was in the room.

“Well it’s time you follow up on that.”

“What do you want, Zuko?” Sighed Mai,

“Ok so,” started Zuko, and she could tell this was going to take awhile, “there’s this guy, his name is Sokka and he works at that store across the street,”

“The weird hipster cafe that also sells men’s accessories for some reason?” Interrupted Mai,

“That’s the one! Anyways he’s like really cute, like illegally so. He’s got this haircut, and like on anyone else it’d be stupid but-“

“Ok would you please get to the point?” Asked Mai, exasperated.

“Right! Anyways, I really want to get his number, but there’s his coworker, and she’s like super chatty? So everytime I try and talk to him she comes into the conversation and I can never ask him!” Zuko rambled on,

“And you want me to…”

“I want you to distract her so I can get the cute guys number!” Exclaimed Zuko as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Mai rolled her eyes and shot a glance at the boy before her, he looked so absolutely desperate, who was she to say no?

“Fine!” She grumbled, “but not because I like you, I’m only doing this because I’m extremely curious as to why the fuck a cafe sells men’s accessories.”

——-

They entered the strange store together and Mai searched around for someone who would fit the description of this Sokka guy. 

“Ookay, stay cool, stay casual-“ Zuko was muttering under his breath, she punched his arm and told him to shut up.

She zoned in on a guy working at the counter, he had dark skin and strangely blue eyes, his hair was up in some sort of ponytail with shaved sides.

“Ha!” She snorted, “he has a  _ ponytail.” _

“It’s not a ponytail, it’s a traditional wolfs tail!” Sniffed Zuko,

“Yeah, you’d know all about ponytails wouldn’t you, mr. Ponytail?” 

“That was a phase in high school! And i thought we agreed to never bring it up again!” Exclaimed Zuko, Mai rolled her eyes (she did that a lot around Zuko).

“Yeah whatever, Ponytail.” She mumbled, that's when she noticed the girl. 

Sokkas coworker, the chatty one. She was beautiful, a long brown braid and warm eyes, it took Mai’s breath away. 

“Is that her?” She nudged Zuko who was busy staring at the boy he had apparently decided was hot. 

“Huh? Oh yeah that’s her.”

“You couldn’t have warned me she was like,  _ super hot _ !?” Whisper-yelled Mai, suddenly self conscious.

“Well how the fuck was I supposed to know that? Now shut up he’s coming over!”

The boy, Sokka, walked over to the park of them,

“Hey! Zuko, right?” He was obnoxiously cheerful, Her dumbass best friend merely stuttered out a yes. Sure enough, before the conversation could go anymore, Pretty Girl, as Mai has decided to call her, showed up.

“Hey! Zuko right? It’s so good to see you again! And you brought a friend? I’m Ty lee! What’s your-“ Ty lee babbled on and Zuko shot Mai a pleading look forcing her to interrupt.

“My name is Mai.” She blurted out, affectively making Ty lee stop talking, “uh, you sell coffee here?” She Asked, trying to improvise.

“Unfortunately no!” She said, somehow still cheerful, “we sell energy drinks and fruit nectars though.” 

“Oh, uh… I’ll have a fruit nectar then?”

“Great! What kind?” Beamed Ty lee, how was this girl this happy all the time?

“Well what kind do-“ started Mai, but before she could finish Zuko, who she’d pretty much forgotten was still there interrupted her.

“Hey Ty lee! Why don’t you go over there and show Mai what kind of nectar you have? Sokka can help me find a, uh, man-purse.” 

“Okay!” She said, pulling Mai away towards the counter.

“So we have Passion fruit and uh,” Mai watched as she looked around the cooler for more options, “yeah that’s all actually.” She said apologetically.

“Well I guess I’ll have passion fruit then!” Said Mai, laughing nervously. Ty lee laughed too, handing her the, Tiny bottle. Seriously, what even  _ was _ this store?

Mai quickly paid for the (overpriced) drink and awkwardly said goodbye, rushing back to Zuko before she embarrassed herself. It wasn’t until she was a mere six feet away from him that she realized she probably should’ve stalled Ty lee a bit longer, she could only hope Zuko had gotten Sokka's number. His face when he saw her seemed to prove the opposite. 

“Did you get it?” She Asked once they had left the shop, dreading the answer.

“No! I almost did but you came back too fast!” 

“Oh well. Guess you’ll have to find another dream man.” Deadpanned Mai.

Zuko looked at her pleadingly,

“Ugh  _ fine _ ! You know what, I’ll come back tomorrow, but on one condition.” 

“Yes! Anything!”

“You have to take this stupidly tiny 7$ passion fruit nectar as a shot,” She said smiling darkly and handing him the drink, “be warned it tastes like piss.” 

And then she watched happily as her best friend chugged the offending juice.

———

They set out to the cafe (is it a cafe if they don’t even sell coffee?) at the same time the next day. Zuko was practically vibrating with anticipation and if Mai spent a bit longer on her eyeliner that morning well that was nobody’s business. 

“Well your a bit fancy today aren’t you?”

Remarked Zuko when he saw her, “aren’t you a bit dressed up to be doing something you don’t even want to do?”

“I’m the normal amount of fancy thank you very much.” she said stiffly, her cheeks flushing.

“Oh my  _ god”  _ gasped Zuko, snapping his fingers at her, “you’re totally into the chatty cashier!” 

“I am  _ not _ , I hate chatty people!” Mai tried to defend herself but Zuko was looking at her with a stupid knowing grin.

“Come on, were going to be late.” She grumbled, pulling the gleeful Zuko out of the door.

——-

This time around, Mai went straight for Ty lee who was rearranging the plants by the window. Considering their very small assortment of drinks she decided she’d have a better time stalling if she browsed the accessory side of the store.

“Hey.” She said flat out, getting Ty Lee’s attention. The other girl, strangely agile, did a little flip over to where Mai was.

“Hi Mai! Your back! Do you want some more nectar? We have a new flavour today!” Said Ty lee, Mai couldn’t help but be enamoured by her expressive hand gestures, it was kind of cute.

“Uh, no, actually I’d like to buy an… accessory!” She said, flustered.

“Great! Just so you know we only sell men’s accessories.” 

“Yeah that’s ok it for uh… my dog?” Said Mai, ans internally kicked herself. Her dog? Really?

“...your dog?” Asked Ty lee, clearly confused.

Mai laughed nervously, “yep! So anyways, could you show me where the uh, belts are?”

“You want a belt for you dog?” Great, thought Mai, now the pretty girl thinks I’m crazy.

Ty lee led Mai farther into the store, leaving Zuko to flirt with his stupid gay crush, (and no, Mai herself did  _ not _ have a stupid gay crush she was above that!)

“I love your nails!” Ty Lee’s cheery voice brought Mai out of her revery. Mai had painted her nails completely black last week when she’d gotten really sad and drunk with Zuko.

“Thanks! Zuko helped me.”

“That’s Nice of him! Are you two dating or…” Ty lee trailed off, the question caught Mai slightly off guard considering she thought it was pretty obvious that she was a lesbian from the everything about her.

“Oh no! We’re just friends, were actually both gay so…”

“Oh!” Said Ty lee, and was it just her or did she look happier? She was probably reading into it…

“Yeah, he’s actually trying to chat up your coworker right now.” 

“Sokka? Oh well I’m like 99% sure he’s bi so I hope it works out” Said Ty lee, back to her cheerful self.

“So, what kind of belt do you want?” Mai stared at her in confusion for few seconds before remembering that she was supposed to be buying a belt for her dog.

(Hoy fuck why did she say that again?)

“Right! Belts!” She said, louder then intended causing her to lose her footing and fall down, arms flailing.  _ Great, at least it made Ty lee laugh. _ Ty lee giggled a bit before giving Mai a hand and pulling her up with unexpected strength. 

“Uh thanks, I’m not usually that clumsy.” she grinned shyly, hoping to make a joke out of the embarrassing situation. Ty lee laughed again, “It’s fine! I’m happy really, it’s not often I get to come to the rescue of a pretty girl like you.” she said with a wink. 

That’s when Mai short-circuited.

She stood there, eyes wide, staring at the girl before her,  _ who had just called her pretty _ , unable to say a word. 

She was both thankful and not thankful that Zuko decided to show up right at that moment and pull her outside.

“I got his number!” he exclaimed, practically bouncing up and down,  _ disgusting _ .

“Congratulations.”

“So Mai,” he said slyly, “any luck with Chatty Cashier?”

“No.” she said, crossing her arms.

“Oh come on! You just have to ask, it’s really not that hard.” he said, stupidly smug.

“This is coming from you, Sire Awkwardness Lord of the awkward? I bet you didn't even ask Sokka for his number he probably got tired of waiting for you to get your shit together and asked you instead.”

Zuko bristled and she knew she’d guessed right, “Who asked who is of no importance! The point is you should really give it a shot!” 

“Give it up Zuko, I’m not going back in there!”

\-----

She went back the next day.

In her defense it was extremely necessary! She’d forgotten her key and Zuko, who normally was home pretty much all day was off god knows where. It was fine though, she’d just have to wait for Zuko in the park or something! 

That’s when It started to rain.

In a state of panic and fear of her eyeliner leaking Mai decided to go for cover in the closest store she could find. It wasn’t until she’d already entered that she realized it was the goddamn hipster cafe, she groaned internally. And just her luck, Sokka was nowhere to be found, she was alone with Ty lee.

“Mai! You came back!” Squealed Ty lee, Mai nodded frozen in place,  _ not again _ .

Finally, she came to her senses, “So,” Said Mai, clearing her throat, “where’s Sokka?” 

“It’s his day off! Actually I’m pretty sure he’s on a date with your friend Zuko.”

That was a surprise, she’d have assumed that he’d have told her and probably begged her to help him get ready, she swore that boy couldn’t do anything on his own. Sure enough, when she checked her phone she realized that she had accidentally kept it on ‘do not disturb’. There were 37 new messages, most of them in all caps, all from zuko freaking the fuck out about having to do his own eyeliner, she rolled her eyes and looked back at Ty lee who was looking at her expectantly. 

“Uhm. Hey?” Mai Said, trying to keep her cool. 

“Hi! You're drenched, come in and dry up a bit.” 

The two girls sat in relative silence for awhile before Mai finally got up the courage to strike a conversation. 

“I really love your braid.” She tried, successfully getting a smile out of Ty lee.

“Thanks! I love brading things, I find it calming.” 

After that the conversation flowed pretty well, stumbling only when Ty lee asked Mai about her nonexistent dog and she had to explain the whole lie. On the bright side, Ty lee found the whole thing hilarious, in fact she was still laughing when Zuko and Sokka finally reentered the shop. Mai rolled her eyes at their linked hands.

“Have fun lover boy?” She said sarcastically.

“Mai! Oh my god we have so much to talk about! Hey why are even here? I thought you said you were never-“

“I got locked out!” Said Mai loudly, interrupting Zuko before he said something he was going to regret later.

“Anyways, give me your key please, you and your new boyfriend can make all your lovey dovey goodbyes, I’m going home to dry.” She said reaching out her hand for the key that Zuko gave her, flushing slightly. 

“Yeah, yeah.” He mumbled.

Mai was about to leave when she heard Ty Lee call her name, “Mai, wait! You forgot something.”

“What-” 

Ty lee quickly pushed what looked like an ordinary piece of paper into her hand.

“A… napkin?” 

Ty lee nodded and rushed off embarrassed.

It wasn’t until she was outside that she thought to open the paper. Inside was written a phone number and the words ‘Call me ;) P.s: I LOVE your tattoos’

Mai definitely didn’t squeal. And she definitely  _ definitely _ didn’t trip on her shoelaces and stumble into a tree.

**Author's Note:**

> The hipster cafe is based of a shop that used to be near my house that did indeed sell only strange beverages and men’s accessories, as you can see I have a lot of pent up rage against it. 
> 
> Hope y’all liked this! Thanks to the Mailee Fic writers 4 the future group chat on tumblr for giving all those ideas!! We shall prevail in our task of replenishing the Mailee tag.
> 
> Comments give me life y’all <3
> 
> Come scream with me on tumblr @cheese-greaterx (I still don’t know how to link shit in here)  
> Also, if anyone wants to join the fight and the group chat we need all the help we can get


End file.
